Food and Money...

I've been thinking a lot recently about the connection between money and food in our societies. My sense is that as most people at this point usually BUY food, rather than pick it from somewhere for free, there is a STRONG connection in our collective consciousness between food and money. This seems to easily lead to situations where people don't want to 'waste' any food and perhaps end up eating more than the BODY actually requires, simply because that food was PAID for with money... Imagine the relationship wild animals have with food in contrast...imagine a zebra overeating 8lbs more grass than it actually requires because it 'bought' it from an antelope and hence feels compelled to use it... ;)
Here's a suggestion – if you find yourself in a situation where you're feeling compelled to 'finish something off', let's say a basket of peaches that are over–ripe...step back for a moment and ask yourself a few questions: 'am I actually hungry?', 'does my BODY want this food, or my mind?', 'is the main reason I want to eat this so that I don't feel it has been 'wasted'?' and so on...maybe also try imagining that you're in an ORCHARD of over–ripe peaches – would you feel compelled to eat them ALL? It is not your 'responsibility' to eat something just because it is ready to be eaten...nature (and industry) produces food in abundance all the time and you don't have to eat it all – lol ;) EVEN if you've paid for a portion of it with money – it is ok to let things go to the compost pile/back to the Earth without passing through your body first...

I wrote something along these lines in my book 'Raw Emotions' – I wanted to re–visit these ideas here today though, as I find this money–food connection so interesting and bizarre – the more I look at humans, the more curiosities there seem to be... ;)

on September the 16^th I loved:

1 quart water

3 cups greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen juice: celery, parsley, lettuce, fennel, mixed sprouts, endive, ginger, lime

box of YUMMY zucchini noodles with amazing creamy sauce, from the delightful RawSeed, followed by a little handful of dehydrated granny smith/cinnamon slices

1 quart water

20 chlorella 'nuts'

2 apples with ½ a pack of freeze–dried durian and a little handful of the Kaia curry sunflower seeds

2 cups water

2 cups goji juice with Marine Phytoplankton

1 cup water

OooOoOooo, exciting news for those of you with little people in your lives, especially if they seem to be other–than–thrilled about raw food adventures... ;) Those delicious yummymummies over at RawMom.com have just launched the world's first raw food recipe book for children :) Called 'Monkey Mike's Raw Food Kitchen' this book is gorgeously illustrated throughout and contains 36 fun, easy–to–make, kiddie–approved raw food recipes :)

You can see ALL the details over on the RawMom site HERE and they even have a few videos posted there showing some gorgeous little girls making some of Monkey Mike's recipes ;) ENJOY...

on September the 17^th I was blissed with:

1 quart water

3 cups greeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, romaine, ginger, mixed sprouts, ginger, lime

bowl of energy soup with flax crackers and almond butter on the side, followed by a few slices of the amazing dried mangoes – wow :)

1 quart water

2 cups goji juice with Marine Phytoplankton

3 cups water

on September the 18^th I enjoyed:

1 quart water

3 cups organic watermelon juice

1 Tbsp bee pollen

3 cups greeeeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, parsley, ginger, lemon

bowl of energy soup with flax crackers and almond butter on the side, followed by a handful of soaked Incan berries – yummmmm ;)

1 quart water

2 cups goji berry juice with Marine Phytoplankton

water of one young coconut blended with Greener Grasses and Merlin's Elixir

3 cups water

I promised to share with you some more of the charming poems y'all sent in for last month's contest to win Sarma MeIngailis' new book 'Living Raw Food'.

Here is a choice little selection of three more of your acrostic love tomes to the beautiful raw goddess Sarma:

-------

Succulent

Abundance

Rejuvenating

Mankind's
Appetite

Marie G.

––––––

Sarma, a noun derived from the Turkish verb sarmak, which means "wrapping" or "rolling". A name so perfect, it's karma.

A potent blend of business school, marketing smarts, raw ambition, and platinum blond hair.

Redefining raw, Sarma knows she's not selling food or virtue. She's selling fabulousness, glow, a luxury lifestyle. Sex in the City meets Whole Foods Market.

"Mostly raw food eating" she says--no guilt or apologies or crunchy self-righteousness. As Diane von Furstenberg says "I'm a vegetarian but admit that every now and then I want a slice of salami."

A girl who can concoct a spirulina cilantro smoothie and make drinking it look that sexy is talented indeed. Master Cleanse martinis anyone?

Melissa B–M.

–––––––

Oh my gosh...

New and fantastic experiences have now become a way of life!

Energy and

Love are in abundance now I've

Uncovered the special magic of raw food.

Can you guess who helped me along this journey?

Keen to know my secret?

Yes - it was all thanks to the lovely Sarma!

Down to earth, inspiring,

Unbelievably radiant,

Charismatic and able to

Kick start me into action...I'm forever grateful.

Sarah V.

––––––––

WOW – love it, thank you laydeeees, for sharing your creative flow ;)

All love,

Angelalalalaalaaaaaaaaaa. xxx

WIN Sarma's New Book :)

Ooooooo, here's an exciting opportunity to show your support for what Mr. M and I are up to, if you'd love to take part – big 'alternative' news website The Huffington Post is looking for nominations for 100 top people/sites moving and shaking things up on the web and helping to catalyse shifts in the world, through new media. There is a 'health' category and we would naturally be delighted if you feel moved to nominate there the work that we are doing through TheRawFoodWorld.tv videos, this blog, our newsletters, websites, books or whatever else speaks to you – lol ;) You can post a nomination by visiting HERE, creating a username if you don't have one and leaving a comment. THANK YOU in advance if you are willing/able to play the game – we appreciate you :)

on August the 15th I had:

1 quart water
1 quart organic watermelon juice
2 cups greeeeeeeeen juice – celery, cucumber, fennel, parsley, zucchini, ginger, lime
summer fruit medley of blueberries, peaches, figs and cherries with almond butter :)
3 cups water
2 cups goji juice with Marine Phytoplankton
2 cups coconut water with Greener Grasses and Merlin's Elixir
2 cups water

Are you READY ladies and gentlemen, for the next RawReform Giveaway Contest...? After the swamp monster green mouth pics from last month's chlorella giveaway, I thought maybe we'd get all classy on you this month with a giveaway of the beautiful new recipe book from gorgeous raw goddess Sarma MeIngailis of Pure Food and Wine in NYC.
Sarma's new book 'Living Raw Food' just came out recently and is a welcome follow–up to the classic 'Raw Food Real World' book she published previously with chef Matthew Kenney, which we see in probably the majority of raw food houses we visit ;) Well, this stunning new book is set to surely become a raw recipe treasure–trove favourite too and we are very blessed that Sarma is generously offering a personally signed copy of this new book PLUS a oneluckyduck tote bag to whichever lucky duck is picked as the winner of this month's giveaway contest :) Read on below for the contest details...


on August the 16th my grandma Lily would have been 103 and I enjoyed:

1 quart water
2 cups coconut water with green powder and Merlin's Elixir
double wheatgrass shot (actually I felt nauseous after this ;)
peaches, cherries and figs with almond butter, with a gorgeous little pot of peachy pudding from the delightful Meredith of TheRawSeed.com
1 quart water
2 cups greeeen juice from Meredith
an outrageously delicious raw soft shell taco from TheRawSeed.com – WOW – probably the best food of this kind I've EVER had :)
3 cups water

SO, if you would love to be in with a chance of winning Sarma's beautiful book+bag, here's the game this month:

We want to see your BEST acrostic poem about Sarma and her yumminess :) Here's an example:

Simply
Astounding
Raw
Magic
Abounding

or here's another one:

Sassy
And
Raw–markable
Made
Accessible

You might use the words 'Sarma' 'Sarma MeIngailis', 'Pure Food and Wine', One Lucky Duck', 'Living Raw Food' or anything along these lines that speaks to you ;) You can also of course make each line longer than one word if you'd love to – let your inner poet loose ;) Send your poems in to angela@rawreform.com and the winner will be picked in the beginning of September with joy and jubilation.

All love,
Angela Stokes–Monarch. xxx